Los Peinahklaht
by Ink.Incorporated
Summary: Ed & Al must go to Xing, which means crossing the desert.The best way to do it? With the aid of a group of expert guides, Los Peinahklaht.They fill the trip with tales of adventure, but let slip hints of a dark past that the Elrics can't possibly ignore..
1. No Other Choice

**_E:_**_ Welcome to Ink . Inc's second story, this time written solely by me, Elaine/smart one. :D Here's the full list of genres, I stuck it under "General" because there were so many: Humour, general, action/adventure, family, angst, drama, tragedy,...is there a mythology catagory? I forget. I suppose this could be considered sort of like a western, even though it's actually Eastern, and there are no cattle... Rated T for violence in later chapters. I don't think there will be any swearing, except in a fictional language of my own creation. So you won't understand it anyway. There might be some AlxOC in later chapters, but it's still iffy. I never set pairings in stone. Except that this will most certainly not contain any EdxOC pairings, unless you count friendship._

_Sorry about the late author's notes, by the way. Either I forgot to save them or the site deleted them. It was most likely my fault, I guess... -sigh- Anyway, here's the story, read, review and enjoy! ...No, wait, read, enjoy, THEN review. Whatever._

**UPDATE: December 23/08--**_Whoops, forgot all about my disclaimer. Ahem... I do not own Fullmetal Alchemist, nor any of its related characters, logos and other such factors. These are the property of Hiromu Arakawa and probably a few other people. I do own portions of the plot of this story, and the original characters within it are MINE, understand? There, now I'm legally safe. _

_AND...I have prepared... a full-length summary. Does this excite you? ...Well, it should. HERE IT BE: _Our story begins in chapter 63 of the manga, except that, for reasons currently unknown to the Elric brothers, Mei Chan/May Chang is now on her way back to Xing, thus eliminating their best hope for learning Rendanshu. The only thing they can do is head to Xing themselves, crossing the vast and dangerous desert, which is something they can't do alone. They enlist the (somewhat expensive) help of a large group of experienced guides called Los Peinahklaht, based upon an ancient order of desert nomads. The two guides they hire are a pair of thoroughly non-ancient teenaged sisters who seem nice, and ordinary enough considering their rather unusual occupation, but below the surface they're hiding something. On the long journey they tell stories to pass the time, most of them thrilling tales of danger and adventure. But the sisters begin to let secrets slip, and soon Edward and Alphonse find themselves caught in the middle of a fight that goes back much further than their own. They are trapped in the midst of a strange culture, a hostile environment and a web of secrets too dangerous to ignore. _(Ooh, exciting!)_

* * *

_Moonlight streamed through a small window onto the form of a sleeping girl. Her eyebrows pulled together and a tiny whimper escaped her lips as she rolled over. The dream-- the only nightmare she ever got --had come again._

_They were all such familiar sounds. The distant laughter of small children. The sound of a skipping rope hitting the sidewalk again and again. Creaking chains of a swing-set. She remembered, all too clearly, the wind in her face as she pumped her legs back and forth, propelling herself higher and higher, and the numb, sickening horror when they abruptly ceased to obey her commands. Outside of the dream her body jolted violently, as it did in the memory she relived in her mind. In the dream she seemed to fall in slow motion, which left time for all the other sounds that completed her nightmare-- Empty bottles smashing, a baby wailing, angry, drunken shouting mixed with tears, a dull thump and a long, high scream. The girl woke up to the sound of her own sharp gasp- her dream had ended as she slammed into the ground._

_Some children are plagued by nightmares of monsters, of horrors that exist only in the infinite depths of unconscious imagination... but Capella was haunted only by her own past. There was no waking, really, from her nightmare, because the memories were all too real._

""""

"In the _entire library._ You're _sure_ there was nothing?"

"Yep," Ed sighed wearily. "They have the catalogues for all the other libraries in the area too, and all the major ones in Amestris... But there's not a single book about Rendanshu."

Alphonse had almost expected this. Nothing was ever that easy anymore. "But then... what can we do? If the girl with the black-and-white cat is on her way back to Xing already..."

"Then we'll have to _follow_ her, won't we?" Edward replied, raising his arms in exasperation. The Elric brothers had spent an entire day at the National Central Library, searching through shelves and catalogues for any information they could find on Xingese alchemy. Their search had unearthed precisely _nothing, _and Ed seemed to be about to reduce the vast collection of useless information to ashes, letting it share the same fate as the First Branch.

"Follow-- All the way back to Xing?? But- but-" Al could see so many problems with this plan that all he could do was stutter.

Ed's voice raised to an alarming volume for someone inside a library. "I _**know**! But do you honestly have **any** better ideas?!"_

We now pause as Alphonse weighs his options-- or lack thereof.

"Well... no." Al admitted. "But how are we supposed to get there?"

Ed didn't respond immediately, but instead walked swiftly away through the rows of towering bookshelves. He returned carrying a large roll of paper, evidently a map. He spread the map out across a nearby table and motioned for his brother to come and look. It was a map of the continent, and was detailed enough that it took up the entire table.

"Okay, so regardless of what route we take, first we'll have to take a train back to the eastern border." Edward dragged his finger across the map from the center of Amestris towards the country's edge. Alphonse nodded, so he continued, "But from there, we'll have to either find a way to cross the desert safely or take the sea route."

"The sea route..." Al echoed, "If we did that, then we'd have to head south first, not east-" he traced a path on the map with his finger, "-and that means passing through Aerugo. That would be way too dangerous, we'd never get across the border."

Edward sort of deflated a bit. "Crap, you're right. I forgot about the south border war..." He paused to examine the map again. "Then... I guess we could sort of follow the edge of the desert towards the ocean, but that section is actually really wide. So it would be a really long trip just to get to the ocean, just so that we can take an even longer trip all the way around the continent."

Alphonse was a little bit frightened by how tired and weak his brother looked all of a sudden. "I don't think that long of a trip would do us any good. By the time we arrived in Xing, the hommunculi would probably have won already. I think crossing the desert is the best option we have, brother."

"For you, yeah. But you can't feel the heat like I can." Ed had begun his sentence moderately calm and had ended it bordering on rage. "The desert sun heats up my auto-mail like a stove burner! Not to mention the heat from the exhaust. And if my joints overheat I'll probably get really sick, and where will that put us?!"

They were running out of options. "Well... Maybe we can ask Winry about it. There's probably some way she can alter your auto-mail to divert the heat." Al suggested.

"Ugh... Then we have to head all the way back to Rush Valley." Ed groaned. "Alright. It's the only thing we can do right now." He began rolling up the map. "We should probably call her to let her know we're coming."

Alphonse was sure now, as they both stood and headed towards the library's exit, that something was wrong with his brother. Under normal circumstances there was no way he would think to phone Winry before showing up.

--

"So... basically what you need is air-conditioned auto-mail?" There was a note of exasperation mixed with Winry's generally dazed tone that was clearly evident even through the rather static-y pay-phone connection. "And you want me to design, build _and _install it within a week?"

"Well...yeah," suddenly Ed's request seemed silly.

Then she completely surprised him. "Well then, you're in luck."

"...What?"

"I said: You're in luck. I've been working on a similar design for ages, and I think it's just about perfect now."

Edward hadn't expected that. He'd been rather skeptical of the whole plan from the beginning, and was only really following it because he had no other options. "Are you serious?"

"Yes," Winry replied simply.

"So you'll be able to finish the design, put it all together and have it ready to install in a week?"

She paused for a moment to consider before answering. "I think so, but you'll have to come out here first so that I can check for measurements and things, and I need to be sure that I'll be able to incorporate the cooling design feature into your old arm and leg, because if it won't fit then I'll have to reconstruct them completely, and that could take a lot more time."

"But you'll definitely be able to do it?"

"Uh-huh."

Ed sighed with relief. "Great. Thanks. You're a lifesaver, Winry."

The conversation generally wound down; travel arrangements were made, reminders were given and goodbyes were said. Upon hanging up Edward sighed again, and leaned against the wall of the phone booth.

"Can Winry design the desert auto-mail, brother?" Al asked, looking down at Ed as he walked out of the booth.

"Somehow, she already has."

"Wha...?"

Edward explained to his brother as they walked back to the hotel. Tomorrow they would take the earliest train to Rush Valley, and hopefully be able to head east within the week. This plan still was leaving a few things up to chance-- it would work out only _if _the desert auto-mail mechanisms would fit into Ed's current prosthetics, and _if_ they could find a guide or some other way to safely cross the Eastern desert.

But it was still, after all, the best hope they had.

--

Four days later, Edward's arm and leg were completely equipped for the scorching desert sun. Winry's design was fairly straightforward according to her- it looked pretty complicated to the Elric brothers -and the actual installation took her about an afternoon, after two days of crafting and assembling the various parts of the cooling devices. This fourth and final day she had spent dragging Edward to see various other engineers so that they could check her design. No flaws were spotted by even Dominic, although he dismissed it as an overly heavy and frivolous attachment- but Winry had not expected him to be outwardly impressed, so she ignored his criticism.

It was late in the afternoon when Ed was finally released from being examined by mechanics all over the city, and he found Alphonse waiting back at the small inn that they had been staying at, scanning the "D" section of the East Area phone book.

Ed realized quickly what his brother was looking for, but he asked anyway.

Al's reply was not immediate. He turned a few pages quickly before answering. "I was checking just in case there were any guide agencies listed, for the--"

"--desert crossing. That's what I thought you were doing. " Edward cut his brother off. "Do you really think that's the sort of thing they list in phone books? I mean, it can't be much of a thriving industry..."

"Actually..." Alphonse began, "There's an entry listed right here." He turned the heavy book to show Ed, pointing with his hollow iron finger to a small ad, close to the bottom of the page, barely visible between several larger and more colourful advertisements that surrounded it. Ed could barely believe their luck as he read the faintly inked words:

**_DESERT CROSSING  
_**_Travel to foreign eastern coun-  
tries, send deliveries, retrieve lost__  
items. Experienced guides and re-  
liable equipment, safe journeys.**  
Los Peinahklaht  
**__**Order of the Desert  
North-East Amestrian Camp**_

He ripped out the page containing the ad.

"_Ed!_" His brother protested. "I got this from the library!"

"Whoops..." Edward hastily shoved the page back into the thick book and clapped his hands together, preparing to transmute. Alphonse protested again. "Big brother, if you transmute it you'll ruin all the words and the page will be useless."

"So I might as well just keep it then?" Ed replied hesitantly, pulling the page out again.

Alphonse sighed. "Sure, but you're paying the library fine."

The brothers laughed before looking at the address on the advertisement. _Lahkaneihah. _A bizarre name for a town.

Ed tried to pronounce the word. "Lah-ka-nay-hah?" He had heard of the town somewhere, but he wasn't sure where. Al corrected him. "You're not supposed to pronounce the second H. It's Lah-ka-nay-ah."

"How do you know?" Edward asked.

"I'm not sure," Al replied. "I know I've heard of that town from somewhere..."

Later they located Lahkaneihah on a map. It was in the mid-northern East area, a long way from Mount Briggs and right on the eastern border of the country. It seemed to be a medium-sized town. They would leave the next day, not knowing exactly what they would find upon stepping off the train.

--

At around four o'clock the next day, the Elric brothers stumbled out of the train station and into the bright glare of the desert sun. Observing his surroundings, Alphonse was suddenly reminded of the last town on the eastern border they had visited. Youswell had been nearly deserted. By contrast, Lahkaneihah seemed to be a major tourist attraction. The main street swarmed with activity, the wide cobblestoned path was lined with thriving shops, and there were smiling people everywhere he looked. This would have made him smile, too, except that he couldn't. Al noticed that not too many people were staring at him. They were all too busy shopping and chattering away to stop and stare at a big suit of armour.

Ed was clutching the page he had ripped out of the phone book, as well as a small map. They were headed towards the easternmost edge of town, where the ad told them that they would find the North-Eastern camp of Los Peinahklaht. They turned down a long and well-paved side street, which slowly began to degrade into a dusty gravel path. As the two brothers walked along it, neat rows of houses and crowded shops soon thinned, giving way to barren, rocky terrain, and the horizon rippled with sand dunes. At the end of the road was a small plaza of run-down buildings, concrete warehouses with weeds poking out from underneath the foundations.

Four of the buildings seemed to be workshops, and by reading the signs Alphonse could see that they belonged to artists, carpenters, potters and, apparently, a theatre troupe. The owners of the fifth and final building had decorated the plain concrete with a large and richly coloured mural, depicting what seemed to be various stories. There were images of a girl, bound to a rock in the middle of a vast ocean, while a woman stood on a rocky cliff above her laughing. At the bottom of the cliff was a young man, swimming against the churning waters to rescue the girl. There was a scene depicting a woman standing on a battlefield atop a heap of vanquished enemies, clutching some sort of small harp-like instrument in her hands. Some of the scenes did not show people, only landscapes or animals, such as a vibrant sunrise and a lone goat. There was one image, however, that stood out to Alphonse, and he was sure that his brother would recognize it too.

Several small pictures told the story of a man who was imprisoned on a small island. Desperate for escape, he carefully built himself a pair of wings out of wax and feathers, and took flight from his prison. At first it seemed that the man had achieved glorious freedom, and he had gained the power of flight. Taking advantage of his newfound power, he became arrogant and vain. Higher and higher he soared, thinking that nobody could ever stop him. But he flew too close to the sun, and as he drew near his wings began to melt. He fell into the sea and drowned...

"This is..." Ed began, staring at the mural. Then his eyes moved higher on the old building. "This is the place!"

Alphonse looked up to where his brother had. Sure enough, there was a sign above the door that read, quite plainly, _Los Peinahklaht_ . But below it were two words in a language he had never seen before: _Ceiyo-Cheiidah._

He was about to point them out to Edward, but no sooner had he looked in his brother's direction than Ed opened the door and stepped inside.

* * *

_Not the longest chapter ever, I know, but what do you people think? I can handle all manner of criticism as long as it's constructive. If it sucks, go ahead and say so, as long as you tell me why. Well, I hope you enjoyed it, and please review!! _

-Elaine/smart one


	2. Sisters of the Desert

REVIEW TIME!!

**Alicia:** _Congratulations, Reviewer Number One! And thanks. Hopefully you'll be kept interested this time too! _

**Butt Monkey 'O Doom:**_ Nice name, Rae. Thanks! You should like this chapter, since Los Peinahklaht are introduced. As for pairings... just wait and see!  
_

**Manga Girl number 6:**_ I like my chapters to be twice as long as this, so use your MSIP wisely! Okay, I'll do my best._

**Ian Guenette: **_Thanks, Ian! _

**Elaine:**_ Alright, welcome two chapter two, at long last! By now you may have figured out that my chapter updates are not very regular. ...Okay, they're not very regular at all. But I have this whole thing planned out, so please stick with it if you've enjoyed it so far!! If it's truly dead, I'll say so. But it's not. _

_In this chapter I get to introduce my main characters. You'll be seeing a lot of them if you keep reading, so I hope they're well-recieved. Enjoy!  
_

* * *

Edward blinked. The room he had entered was small, dim and dusty. Light from a lone window was filtered through a dull, brownish curtain, giving everything the appearance of a sepia photograph.

Alphonse stepped into the room behind him, barely wedging his hulking metal frame through the door. Apart from the two brothers, the room appeared to be empty of customers- and employees, for that matter. Ed and Al looked around, confused. The interior walls were plain concrete, as was the rather sandy floor. On the left was a door- no, it wasn't really a door. It was a rectangular, unfinished archway with a frayed and faded reddish curtain. Nailed crookedly above it was a wooden sign which read "Employees Only". Straight ahead, close to the back wall of the room, was a tall wooden counter. It bore another sign:

_**LOS PEINAHKLAHT  
PLEASE RING FOR SERVICE  
**Vendaht._

Again, a strange word Alphonse had never heard before. He was about to mention it to Edward, but his brother turned away and strode towards the apparently unmanned counter, upon which sat two things- three if you're picky. A rather unembellished inkwell with a bedraggled feather pen, and a small, very shiny dinner bell. With half a glance at the sign on the counter, Ed reached out- with his right hand- and tapped the bell.

There are a few factors that caused what happened next. Firstly, Lahkaneihah had a very warm climate, and because of this Ed had removed the gloves he usually wore. Secondly, the bell was designed to be louder and more sensitive, so that it could be heard from the back rooms of the building. Thirdly, Edward, without realizing that second fact, had used his ungloved auto-mail hand to ring the bell- and he did so with slightly more enthusiasm than necessary. These factors, when combined, produced an abnormally loud dinging noise.

Now as if the situation was not awkward enough, the Elric brothers also did not realize that there was, in fact, an employee behind the desk. Not a conscious employee, but an employee just the same. And so the bell's dinging was immediately followed by an odd yelp, a loud squawk, a rattling crash and a thud. The startled and bewildered brothers quickly rounded to the other side of the counter, where they were met with an odd sight.

A young teenage girl, no older than thirteen or fourteen, was sprawled on the concrete floor, her heaps of violently orange hair tangled and messy. She picked herself slowly up off of an overturned chair, cursing in mixed languages under her breath.

"Agh... Friggin' _senekethetchkeihn ai los _stupid bell, should just_ sharah..._ #%$&*+ moronic invention..." The girl carried on mumbling to herself in irritation, with words that had a similar rhythm to the ones on the sign, as she dusted herself off and replaced the chair to its upright position. Rubbing her eyes, she sat down and gave the little room a sleepy once-over, and in doing so, nearly fell out of her chair again. Evidently she had not realized that there was anyone else in the room-or so one would infer given the way she yelped in surprise again, upon laying her eyes on Edward and Alphonse. Then she ducked under the counter for a moment. Ed and Al glanced at each other and then at the counter, still very bewildered. The girl resurfaced, however, in a matter of seconds, with some sort of bandana on her head. It was a faded maroon colour, which clashed magnificently with her hair. From the front it resembled the bandana that Winry sometimes wore, but it was much longer at the back. Then she burst forth into more professional, slightly accented speech.

"Welcome to Los Peinahklaht North-East Amestrian Camp, my name is Andromeda. You rang?"

"Um... yes..." Ed responded sheepishly.

"Then how may I help you?"

"Well, we, uh... need to get to Xing."

At this point Andromeda gave a rehearsed-looking, customer-service-type smile, and led the Elric brothers towards the "Employees Only" doorway. "Alright then, follow me. First we'll need to look at some maps to select a route, and then we'll discuss rates." They followed her through the frayed curtain and down a narrow hallway, whose concrete walls were dotted with a few other "doors". Andromeda paused at the third archway on the right, poked her head through the curtain- this one was blue, but equally frayed and faded- and called, "_Capella! Customers!_"

Immediately the sound of approaching footsteps issued from behind the curtain, and the young woman who was apparently Capella pulled it aside. She wore a kind of navy-blue, hooded overdress, similar in function to a cloak but slightly different in design, mostly in the fact that it had actual sleeves. Her face was much softer and calmer than Andromeda's, and her hair was chin-length and light brown. The term "young woman" is used loosely here, as Capella was, admittedly, only a few years older (and a few centimeters taller) than Edward. But there was a definite air of maturity around her as she fell into step next to Andromeda and led their customers back up the hall again, to the first door on the right, marked "Consultation Room" and separated with a sand-dulled white curtain. Andromeda swept the curtain back and showed them into a tiny, square room, just over two meters wide. Alphonse, upon sitting down, was wedged tightly between the wall and the tiny table. Ed, being considerably smaller than his brother, had a fair amount of room and was comfortable enough- but he was the only one. Sitting opposite them, Capella and Andromeda were absolutely squished against a tall set of shelves, containing rolls and rolls of maps. They appeared to be accustomed to the confined space, however, as they were still able to conjure up a pair of identical customer-service smiles.

As Andromeda freed herself from her chair (with some difficulty) to select a few maps, Capella got down to business and began interviewing her customers.

"Heading to Xing, are you?" The brothers nodded. Her voice was slow, calm, and had a slightly stronger accent than Andromeda's. "What is it that draws you there? The culture, the food, the history...?"

"Well..." Al began uncertainly, looking to his brother, who obliged in handling the explanation, "We're interested in Rendanshu--Xingese alchemy."

"Ah... alchemists," She responded, with a sincere and knowing smile. "I should have recognized you two before. You are the- the _Elric_ brothers, am I correct?" They nodded again. "So then-" She looked directly at Al, "You must be Edward Elric, the Fullmetal-" she broke off upon seeing Ed's look of outrage.

"_I'm_ Edward. The Fullmetal Alchemist. Me. Not him. _This,"_ A vein throbbed in his temple as he pointed to Al, "Is my _younger brother,_ Alphonse."

Capella raised her eyebrows slightly, but otherwise didn't seem too surprised. "Whoops. My mistake. Allow me to apologize- for that, and," she cast a glance at Andromeda, who was still rifling through the stacks of maps- "In advance, for my sister's clumsiness. It's due to strike any minute now."

_"Hey!"_ Andromeda protested, spinning around abruptly. Unfortunately, in doing so she immediately proved Capella's prediction correct. The shelves which held the maps were not fastened with bolts, but merely sat on small wooden dowels, which fit into small niches in the underside of each shelf. As she spun around, Andromeda had a hand on one large map scroll, which she raised a bit too high when she moved. It collided with the shelf above it, lifting and dislocating it from the dowels. The shelf slid off the wall with an ominous scraping sound, and twenty maps-- all rolled around bars of metal-- crashed to the floor.

The girl barely had time to scramble out of the way. "_Shenekeht!" _She cursed loudly, wincing as each map hit the concrete.

"_Andromeda!"_ Capella scolded her sister. "There's no need to be so rude around customers. I told you not to use that word."

She just shrugged, returning to her hands and knees to pick up the maps, shaking off dust and checking titles. "It's not like they even know it's rude." Andromeda turned to the Elric brothers. "You two have no idea what I just said, right?"

"...Not specifically," Ed supplied.

"But you can _tell_ that it's not polite, can't you?" Capella persisted. "There are certain things anyone can comprehend in speech just from tone and context."

"Okay, so it did sound kind of rude, but she has a point. " Ed responded. "It's not really offensive to us, because we don't even know what it means..."

"What language was that, anyway?" Alphonse asked, finally able to voice his question.

Capella sighed. "...Do you like long, rambling stories?"

Before either could answer, Andromeda cut in. "You'd better, 'cause I can't find the friggin' continental map."

Edward and Alphonse glanced at each other, shrugged, and then Ed spoke for them both. "Explain away."

"Alright," Capella began, "Los Peinahklaht is based upon an ancient order of disciplined warriors who lived in harmony with the desert, defending their sacred land from enemies, studying the mysteries of the Old Star Legends-"

"-And generally setting an unhealthy amount of store by tradition alone." Andromeda interrupted.

"_Sharah. _As I was saying, the governing principal of this order was basically to learn from anyone they could, from all walks of life. They shared the skills of their allies and copied the strengths of their enemies. Everything was combined-- weaponry, martial arts, cuisine, traditions-- and the language. The result was a very diverse-"

"-and freaky-"

"_-Not_ freaky cultural group that spoke a kind of patchwork language, borrowing words from just about everywhere. There was, however, an indigenous culture in the desert to begin with, the Lahkhnaians, descendants of an ethnic group that was exiled from what would later become Cselkcess over a thousand years ago. They were the 'founding members' of Los Peinahklaht, and _that_ is the language- or the root of the language- that we speak today.

"It's a spoken language only, Lahkhnaian, not written. So after centuries without any documentation, much of the language has been lost. It was likely never complete, as it was merely a dialect of Cselkcess, but not many words are left now, so we mix it in with our native tongues, mostly Amestrian, Ishbalan and Xingese."

There was a loud _whack_ as Andromeda sat up suddenly.

"Ow! My head!" She shook her fist at the shelf she had collided with, releasing a long stream of curses in a mixture of Amestrian, Lahkhnaian and several other languages Ed and Al could only guess at.

Edward couldn't help but snicker. "Careful, we can understand you now!"

"Ha, ha." Andromeda stood up, rubbing her head. "Whatever, I just thought of something."

"Mark the calendar, this doesn't happen often." Capella said dryly.

"_Sharah_! Listen to me. You guys don't have to go all the way to Xing to learn Rendanshu. If you go to _Myahno Idenah- _the Central Oasis Camp- you can cut your travel distance in half. That's where Lyra is posted right now- she's Xingese, and she just so happens to be Los Peinahklaht's resident alchemist."

Ed looked overjoyed... but Al wasn't convinced. "But... will she be willing to teach us?"

Andromeda glanced to her sister for the answer. Capella thought for a moment, then said, "Well, _Myahno_ _Idenah_ isn't so busy this time of year, and I'm sure that she would be willing to help you."

"If you paid her, yeah."

"Mm-hmm."

Edward fished around in his pocket and produced a small notebook. He flipped a few pages before pausing and reading something. "Well, I still have a bit of money left in my annual research grant account... How much is all this going to cost?"

Capella looked back towards her sister. "If you can't find the continental map, just get out the desert map."

She smirked in response. "You mean the Lahkhnaian map?"

"No, the other one."

"The route map?"

"That too, but the _other_ one..."

Andromeda's smirk widened. "Say it." Capella winced as though she'd been stung.

"You know I can't pronounce it!"

"Would you rather come over here and get it yourself?"

At first it had looked to Alphonse that the two girls were just joking around- typical sibling stuff, which he well understood- but Capella seemed to be getting really upset.

"Fine, the ph- the phy- physio...-"

"Physiographical map?" Al provided. He didn't understand why it was so hard for her to say the word, but he didn't like seeing her struggle with it when it was obviously bothering her so much.

"Yes, that." She looked relieved.

Her sister frowned as she set the heavy map scrolls down on the table with a thump. "You're going to have to learn to say it eventually." She squeezed back into her chair, squished right against the wall, and spread out the route map across the table. "Anyhow, let's figure out where you're headed, and then we'll see how much it's gonna cost."

* * *

_Still not so long, but it's mostly character development, I guess...? Anyway, I hope you liked it, and please review!_

_ -Elaine of  
_


	3. Departure from the Ordinary

_Okay, here's chapter three! This is probably the fastest update you guys can hope for, because I've been working on this every chance I've had. Maybe I can still improve, who knows. Anyway, time to reply to my one very thourough reviewer of the previous chapter._

**Melissa:**_ Wow, jeez, thank you for taking the time to critique the story so much! I really, really appreciate that. When you said Andromeda was a Mary-Sue, it's not that it bothered me that you said it- it just bothered me that you're RIGHT! So I've been trying, in this chapter, to make her a bit more unique. Even if she wasn't totally Mary-Sue (and maybe she wasn't, maybe we need a third opinion) she was getting there, so I'm trying to flesh her out. Yeah, they already got the automail, I guess you must have just skimmed over that part. That whole scene was only like two paragraphs. And...WHAT? A historical reference I didn't know about? Gasp. Thank you. That makes it a lot cooler. I'll change it to Xerxes next time it comes up! Thanks again for the advice/criticism, and I hope you enjoy the chapter!_

_And so, without further ado, here's chapter three, everybody! Hope you like it!

* * *

  
_

The late-afternoon sun was beating down harshly on the little town of Lahkaneihah, and even inside Los Peinahklaht's dim little building the temperature had risen a lot. Ed was becoming increasingly grateful for Winry's new automail system- he now had temperature controls on both his right shoulder and his left ankle, and they were working so well he barely noticed the extra weight.

The four teenagers sat at that tiny table for over an hour consulting the two maps, trying to distinguish the best route to the center of the desert, which is a lot more complicated than it may sound. There were many obstacles to consider, such as places where the sand was unstable, prime territory for bandits and high-risk sandstorm zones, and the route could also never stray too far from any of the underground wells and springs.

"Water is the most important thing in the desert, and there's only enough if you know exactly where to find it." Capella explained.

"Plus we try to avoid juicing cacti whenever we can," Andromeda added. "I don't know about you, but I get kind of annoyed when my fingers are impaled."

_"Cacti?"_

"Yeah, you know... one cactus, two cacti?"

"Uh... sure."

The Elric brothers looked back on the route they had decided on- the path they would take was marked in red, with the water sources marked in blue and a large star on the destination, _Myahno Idenah._ It looked like a long trip, and, the guides had told them, it most definitely was.

"But twenty days is a lot better than fifty."

"Wouldn't it be forty days all the way to Xing?" Al asked.

"Nuh-uh." Andromeda shook her head. "Even though it's twice the distance, the eastern side of the desert has a lot more obstacles to cross. It might even take sixty days, a lot more if you run into bandits."

Ed and Al just said "Wow."

"That's right." Capella said, nodding. "And because you're not crossing any of the most dangerous parts of the desert, our fees are considerably lower- the insurance deposit especially." She turned toward her sister. "Would you do the calculations now, An?"

"Joy." She opened a drawer below the shelves, so small and nondescript that it was the kind of thing you could look right past for years and never notice. "Oh, the infinite delight of practical mathematics..." she muttered sarcastically, pulling out a tiny abacus, a pad of paper and a dull pencil. "...Still don't see why _I _should have to do all this. I haven't got any more education than _you _do..."

Her sister smirked back. "But you hang around with all those friends of yours from the village, and the ones in New Optain... All the way down the border. Lots of them."

"So?"

"So you pick things up that way." She waved the younger girl away with a thin, airy hand. "Go on, calculate."

--

"Eleven _thousand _sens?" Edward said, echoing the two sisters' verdict. His eyebrows were raised in mild disbelief. "Isn't that kind of a lot?"

Capella shrugged. "Not really. Even if the voyage is shorter, crossing any stretch of the desert is dangerous, and it costs us quite a lot to keep all passengers safe."

"And _fed_, too." Andromeda added. "And we have to take the animals into account as well..."

Alphonse raised a finger to get her attention. "Could you excuse us for a minute?" The girls nodded and he turned to his brother.

"That really _is _a lot, Ed," he murmured. "Are we going to have enough?"

Ed checked. There were seven thousand sens left in his research grants-- he'd given Sheska quite a lot for Marcoh's research notes. They couldn't afford to wait for next year's grant to kick in. Time was running out. They still needed four thousand more, which would have to come out of there own pockets.

Which contained not much more than the 520 sens Ed had borrowed from Colonel Mustang.

"That's _all_ you have?!" Al exclaimed in a whisper-yell. "How were you planning on paying for a hotel in Lahkaneihah?"

"With my travel expense account, like I always do."

Al was silent for a moment.

"...You have a travel expense account?"

"Duh."

"How much is in it?"

"Eight thousand."

"And does this not qualify as 'travel'?"

Edward eventually realized what his brother was talking about. Even with the automail cooling his metal joints, the heat had put him in a slight daze, which he supposed his brother was immune to. "Oh, right. ...Yeah, I guess that means we have enough, then." They turned back to the two sisters.

"Sold."

They grinned identical, satisfied grins- the two didn't look like sisters at all until they smiled, but then the resemblance was unmistakable.

"Alright then," said Capella, "The caravan will leave in five days' time, because we must run an advertisement in the local newspapers in case there are any others who need to go to the same place."

"It's cheaper for each person if there are more passengers." Andromeda added.

"And Los Peinahklaht have an agreement with one of the hotels in town- you can stay there until it's time to leave, and they will serve meals and everything-- it's included in the price of the trip." She handed Alphonse a small slip of paper bearing the address.

--

**Los Peinahklaht  
Order of the Desert  
Expert Guide Agency  
**_Caravan for the Central Oasis  
camp in the mid-eastern desert  
leaving in five days. Route alter-  
ations or extensions negotiable._

The ad gave a phone number and the address of the building. Ed had found the tiny box ad buried deep in the classifieds section of the _Lahkaneihah Weekly Journal _the following day_._ The newspaper was spread out over a table near the window of a restaurant on the main street, where he was waiting for his lunch to be served- he hadn't been there too long. His brother wasn't there-- Al had decided to check out the local library rather than sitting in the restaurant looking strange for not ordering any food, and so Edward dined alone. It was peaceful, just sitting there... but he had a feeling that it wasn't going to last.

--

Back on the outskirts of town, there was a crash as Andromeda's chair tipped over.

Surprise.

"Don't tell me you fell asleep _again, _kid."

She looked up sleepily from the sandy floor to see who had spoken. "...I can't help it, Aquila! It's so _boring_ sitting here all day waiting for someone to wander in."

Aquila grinned down at her- she was thirty years old, about average height and very solid-built, which suited her general toughness as well as the five guns holstered onto her belt. Her nut-brown hair was twisted into a loose bun and her bangs framed the sides of her face. "I hear you. What d'ya say we close up for awhile? I've got some errands to run downtown, and you could obviously do with some free time. Go hang with your sister. You're free."

Then she spun and walked out, flipping the sign on the door to 'closed' behind her. Andromeda smiled as she picked herself up off the floor for the umpteenth time and half- skipped down the hall to find Capella, where they could engage in their favourite pastime at _Ceiyo-Cheiidah_- talking about the customers.

They sat together in the kitchen, close to the back of the building, where the windows were large and uncovered and the light poured in from outside. Here, at least, there was space to sit comfortably, and the brightly-painted walls extended to the living room, where there were two large, soft armchairs and a big fluffy sofa.

"So," said Capella, sliding a glass of iced tea across the table to her sister, "Now we have a big problem."

"Totally. You forgot to give me a lemon wedge with this."

"_Sharah,_ I'm serious."

"What's the problem?"

"_The Elric brothers!_" Capella hissed, as though it should have been obvious. "Aquila's the only other person at the camp right now, and they're _Thesenehkkehn!"_

Then Andromeda realized what she meant. "Oh my god, you're right! They're military! I didn't realize... the state alchemist thing... Jeez, this isn't good, this is not good at all."

"Andromeda, what if they were sent here to spy on Aquila? Or they might already be prepared to arrest her, I'm sure they have enough evidence, and I bet the military is dying to make an arrest to prove they're still good at something, now that they still can't catch that Ishbalan terrorist..."

"So what do we do now, cancel the caravan and send them back to where they came from? That'd look way suspicious..."

"You're right, we can't do that." She shook her head. "But we can't take them, either. Aquila would never help the military, even if it turns out they don't know who she is."

"But then..." Andromeda looked doubtful. "We'd have to take them without her."

Both sisters were getting very worried now. "But we've never led a caravan alone," Capella faltered nervously.

"...And... we could run into- into the New Moon _drahshnahkt_..."

Capella suddenly became confident again at those words. "We can take them. We _have _to fight them."

Andromeda nodded. "You're right. _Vendaiah."_

"Not only that, but I think... I think, after all this time, we can handle the desert on our own. It's been, what, ten years?"

"Twelve." Her sister corrected. "You were five when we came, remember?"

"And you were only two. I think twelve years' experience is more than enough to serve us for twenty days, don't you?" Capella said, reassuring herself as much as Andromeda. "We've been here longer than Lyra, and about as long as Aquila and Alphecca."

"Well..." she sighed. "Okay. I guess we're ready."

"Right." Capella confirmed, raising her iced tea. Their glasses clinked together, and it sounded like a plan.

"Now pass me a lemon wedge already!"

--

Four uneventful days later, Ed and Al found themselves standing outside a large garage behind Los Peinahklaht's building with their luggage. Even though it was right on the edge of the desert, the place smelled like a barnyard.

Capella and Andromeda opened the large wooden doors to reveal two tall covered wagons, with large barrels attached to the sides. The tires seemed very out of place on the old-fashioned vehicle, as they were about a meter high, extremely wide and made with thick rubber treads.

"Whoa," Ed said, examining the wagon nearest to him. "Big enough tires?"

"They have to be like that," Andromeda explained, "so that they don't sink into the sand." Her voice trailed away as she scampered into the garage and disappeared behind the wagons.

She returned shortly, however, leading several large animals behind her. There were six camels, their long, skinny legs looking mismatched with their big, lumpy bodies. They were held by a thick leather harness, and stood there chewing their cud, looking somewhat dazed. Beside them, looking equally dazed and strange, was a different creature, the likes of which the Elric brothers had never seen. It was shaped similarly to the camels, with the same skinny, knobbly legs, but its fur was a darker brown, its neck was longer, it lacked humps and its ears were different.

"What the heck is _that?_"

Capella came out from the inside of one of the wagons. "You're _not_ bringing Perseus, An."

"Yes, I am."

"No, you're not."

"Yes, I _am!_" Andromeda yelled stubbornly. "What if we need him?"

"...Okay, but you're responsible for him." She sighed. "Edward and Alphonse... Meet 'Perseus'..."

"...rescue llama extraordinaire." Her sister finished, gesturing toward the creature and swaying her hands around for dramatic effect.

A large glob of llama-spit issued from Perseus.

Ed and Al applauded briefly, amid some laughter.

"We," said Capella, after they had all calmed down, "will be taking _this_ caravan." She motioned to the wagon nearest to them. "Our necessary supplies and provisions have been packed, and all that remains is for us to load the cargo to bring to _Myahno Idenah_, hitch up the animals and for you two to place your luggage inside the wagon. We would normally offer to help you, but..." She glanced up at Alphonse, who was a good two feet taller than her. "...I think you'll probably be able to handle it."

Andromeda scampered back to the main building after her older sister. Once they were safely out of earshot in the small storage room, she said, "Aquila's still in town, right?"

Capella nodded. "And you left the note in the kitchen, didn't you?"

"Yep."

"Good."

Andromeda began to head towards the door again, but she was interrupted. "Where do you think you're going?" Capella demanded. "That wasn't code. We really do have to load this cargo."

The Elric brothers ended up helping them carry most of the large wooden crates into the caravan. At first the wagon had seemed spacious, but it soon became crowded with luggage. As Andromeda hitched up the camels, Capella showed Ed and Al how to arrange the boxes into furniture. They piled them against the canvas walls to form four chairs, with a crate between each to serve as a table. She placed blankets over the splintery wood of the 'chairs' to make them more comfortable, and placed unlit lanterns on each 'table'. The canvas ceiling was high enough that Alphonse's head just brushed it, and it provided wonderful relief from the afternoon sun. It was a cozy sort of space once you got used to it.

The camels outside had bushels of food, blankets and other supplies piled on their backs, the barrels attached to the caravan were filled with water (along with several more inside) and there were, Capella told them, storage compartments under the floor as well as in some of the crates.

"So there isn't any need to worry about running out of food or water." she assured them. The back of the wagon had a cover that they could open and close, and the driver's side, where four of the six camels were now hitched, was open but had a sort of awning over it to provide the driver shade.

Andromeda appeared at the back of the wagon, which was so high off the ground that they almost didn't notice her. "Okay, the animals are all ready." She clambered up to sit on the edge of the floor. "Who's driving first, me or you, Capella?"

Her sister moved towards the very front of the caravan and took the thick reins in her hands. "I'll drive." She said. She turned back towards the Elric brothers as Andromeda took a seat opposite them. "Ready to go?"

Without a second's hesitation, they nodded. "Ready."

She turned around again to face the camels and shouted, "_Tseih! Ai Nesethairah!"_ and they were off, the caravan rolling out into the endless sea of dunes, away from civilization and everything the two brothers had ever known, into the harsh desert world of the two sisters that they scarcely knew, and had no choice but to trust.

* * *

_And there you have it. Please, ple-e-e-ease review!! I'll get to work on the fourth chapter as soon as I can, but it'll probably be at least a month before it's done. :) Also, if you'd like to see some drawings of my characters, go to my profile and you'll find a link to my deviantart account, where they're posted.  
_

_ -Elaine/smart one  
_


	4. Appearances Can Be Deceiving

**THIS CHAPTER IS DEDICATED TO AUSTIN, my number-one fan, haha... and Rachel, too, because she's awesome like that.**

_Two updates in one month! Halleluiah! _

Review reply:

**Terrence Adam Lemaister:**_ Thanks a million, Austin! As you can see, I've dedicated chapter four to you and Rae... AUGH NO DON'T POKE ME! I'M INNOCENT! IT WASN'T MY FAULT! Here's the much-anticipated-by-you-and-you-alone fourth chapter! Enjoy!_

_Why didn't anybody else review? I know for a fact that 13 people read (or at least clicked on) the third chapter this month, six Americans, six Canadians and one Australian. And yet only one of the Canadians decided to leave a review... Sorry, I know I'm being whiny. I'm glad that people are at least reading this at all! Hopefully this time I'll get some feedback, though... Enjoy it, Americans, Canadians, Australian and anybody else who may stumble upon my story!  


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_

"So when they finally arrived in the south, and opened up the delicate cargo..." came Capella's voice over the sand-muffled sound of hooves and turning wheels, "...there was nothing in the crates but sand!"

Edward and Alphonse, who had been listening eagerly to the story for the last fifteen minutes, laughed along with with her at the ending. The caravan had been traveling for about an hour and a half, and the town of Lahkaneihah was merely a distant blur of colour on the western horizon, only just visible over the vast expanse of sand that already lay behind them.

There was something in the way Capella told a story- and Al couldn't quite put his finger on it- that made it impossible not to pay attention. You just had to listen. She was a very skilled storyteller, and knew exactly how to phrase even the simplest anecdote to draw gasps, laughter and tears from her audience. Even Andromeda, who told the Elric brothers she had heard all the stories countless times before, was still kept interested. She also was a storyteller, and although she wasn't so good at the more dramatic bits, Andromeda could make anyone laugh. Of course, at this time she had already fallen asleep in her makeshift chair.

"She's been quite listless all week," Her sister explained from the driver's seat. "She tends to take it in shifts... She'll be an over-energetic, hyperactive lunatic for a while, and then run out of steam and nap frequently until she starts up again."

"Sounds a lot like you, Ed!" Alphonse said, chuckling.

"Who're you calling a lunatic?!" he responded, his temper flaring.

There was a clunk as Andromeda jolted awake and landed on the rough wooden floor. "Somebody talking to me?" she asked brightly, her formerly drooping, navy-coloured eyes now wide open and almost an electric blue.

"See what I mean?" Capella sighed as her younger sister sprang to her feet, whirled in a little circle and bounded to the front of the wagon, and began to pester her.

"Can I drive now?"

"No, not yet."

"When?"

"Hmm..." she paused to adjust the harness, tightening it to correct one of the straying camels. "Once we reach the second _Cheraidah,_ then I'll hand over the reins."

"But that's, like, two hours away!"

"Exactly. Why don't you go ride Perseus, if you have so much energy?"

"I think I will." She scampered to the back of the caravan again, which was now moving quite quickly, and jumped down between the reins that attached the other animals to the wagon. Without a second's hesitation she ducked under the reins, not even fazed by the thundering camel hooves that were less than a foot away from her, and dashed past the two camels, where she thrust her arms around the neck of the absurd-looking llama and hoisted herself onto its back. The animals did not slow down, not even for a second. Andromeda untied the ropes harnessing Perseus to the camels, and she dug her heels into his sides, steering him without reins and increasing in speed. The Elric brothers watched as Andromeda, her reddish bandana flying behind her and her orange hair blowing in all directions, rode the llama in a wide circle around the fast-moving caravan.

"They're _fast_," Al said, as the girl circled again, whooping with laughter. "...What's that she's yelling?"

"_Tseih._" Capella explained, without turing around. "It's the sound that tells the animals to speed up."

"_Tseih?_"

"_Tseih,"_ They all felt the caravan suddenly speed up. Capella tightened the reins again. "No, not you! That wasn't what I..."  
But Andromeda, still circling, had seen her increase in speed, and she coaxed Perseus to slow down, so that they were neck and neck with the enourmous wagon. She leaned towards the driver's end and shouted to her sister, "You'll be sorry you didn't hand over the reins, Capella!" She dug her heels into the llama's furry sides again, and as it galloped past she turned and yelled, "You're too slow! Race you to the _first Cheraidah_!"

And Capella, instead of speeding up or even ignoring the challenge and continuing on, stopped the camels and the wagon lurched to a halt.

"Aw, you're not going to--" Ed started to say, but she had already darted past him and jumped down from the back of the wagon. She was unhitching the two extra camels. "...race?" In seconds she had led the camels to the front of the wagon, and hitched them to the front in a triangular, streamlined formation. She clambered back up into the driver's position over the six camels, and shouted, in a voice louder than they would have expected from someone of her size and demeanor, "_TSEIH!"_

They sped up again instantly, especially the extra camels, who seemed glad to be at the front instead of following along behind.

"But you're still not going to be able to catch up to her," Edward yelled over the sound of thundering hooves. "We're carrying too much weight."

"You don't know my sister," Capella yelled back. "She will run Perseus into exhaustion before the camels have even worked up a sweat!"

And sure enough, as the caravan rumbled along at high speed, Andromeda came into view again, the llama barely cantering. It wasn't that, however, that made Ed's jaw drop and Alphonse to lean over so far to get a better view that his head fell off.

It was a lake, an immense body of water, splayed across the sand and edged with what looked, from a distance, to be thick, green grass. It made no sense to the brothers whatsoever... How could there be a lake a hundred kilometers into the desert, with no rain, river or spring feeding it? And more alarmingly, why wasn't Capella slowing down, or steering the wagon around it? Andromeda was lagging behind them now, but Al glanced out the back and saw that she too was still riding determinedly straight towards the water.

"Uh... Capella?" Al said uncertainly, but his voice must have been lost against the noise of the caravan, because she didn't respond. "_Capella?_"

"CAPELLA!" Ed yelled, but she merely waved airily without turning around. _She's not listening... Is she crazy? Are WE crazy?_

They watched her progress towards the lake from the rear opening of the wagon rather than turn around to look at it themselves... it was just too strange, too unreal, too _directly in front of them..._

The caravan shuddered to a gradual halt. Edward and Alphonse turned in spite of themselves-- they had heard the distinct sounds of sand under the wheels, there was sand behind them, and the caravan had not swerved. There was nothing in front of the camels, now staring benignly across the landscape, but the endless sea of sand dunes.

"What the..." Ed faltered, as he saw that Capella, along with Andromeda, who had now caught up and was dismounting from Perseus, were both laughing at his reaction. "What?!"

"It's a _mirage_, you dolt!" Andromeda said, still laughing. "That's what _Cheraidah _means!"

--

It was not until several hours later that, after the animals had been returned to their normal positions, they had encountered another similar mirage, and Andromeda had finally gotten her turn to drive, that the caravan stopped again. The blistering heat of the day had gradually lessened, although it had still not dropped to a level the Elric brothers would normally have found tolerable. As it was late fall, Capella had told them, the temperature would only reach about 42 degrees celsius in the daytime ("_ONLY fourty-two degrees_?!"), and though this might seem quite warm to them, it was relatively wimpy compared to the height of summer, and that they would still feel the contrast at night when it dropped down to thirty degrees. They hadn't believed her at first, but now, as they followed Capella's lead, jumping down from the back of the halted caravan, a much less dangerous endeavour now that the camels weren't moving, Ed, at least, discovered that she was right.

The wind was vicious outside, not quite raising the sand but causing it to drift across the dunes, slowly changing their shape, and Edward could almost feel a chill in the air. Alphonse, however, was indifferent to the temperature changes, as he couldn't feel them at all. He could tell that Andromeda, who was around at the front of the wagon unhitching the animals again, was staring at him curiously. He turned to look at her and she jerked her head in the opposite direction and resumed picking away at a particularly resilient knot in the camels' reins. Al sighed inwardly... he was used to this. To divert his attention, he turned to Capella.

"How come we're stopping here?"

"Several reasons," she explained, looking at him out of the corner of her eye as she untied the knots holding a barrel of water to the wagon's side. "One, the animals are more tired than they should be at this point, because _somebody_," (she raised her voice slightly and glanced pointedly in her sister's direction) "overran them today. Two," she continued, now lifting the heavy water-barrel from the wagon to the ground, "For you and your brother, this has been your first day spent in the desert..."

"...Which is a cause for celebration!" Andromeda finished her sister's sentence. She had unhitched the animals from the caravan and had instead stuck a large stake into the sand, to which they were now tethered. Now she was carrying a wooden crate marked 'food'. "...Of course, around here all that means is that we serve dinner early and play some music. But there's not a whole lot else to do."

She began unloading the crate, which contained various small glass bottles, wooden boxes and metal cans, whose unknown contents rattled as they were stacked. She pulled out a large blue tablecloth, which she then spread over the sand. Capella was now kindling a fire nearby using wood that must have been brought with them, as there were no trees in sight. Andromeda took out a small wooden bowl, and then began filling it with various ingredients, and called to Edward as she worked.

"Hey, Ed, inside the compartment in the caravan floor- see, there's a latch- there are drums, and I think a violin... could you get them out?"

"Sure," he replied, glad for something to do. He got to his feet again and opened the compartment, and in doing so quickly stifled a gasp; directly inside was a vast assortment of weapons- swords, long knives, what looked like a pair of hand-tridents, a tangle of thin chains, and at least ten different guns. The sisters had said that the desert was dangerous... but this seemed extreme to Edward, it wasn't right. It was downright alarming.

Alphonse, who hadn't been paying attention to his brother, saw Capella give her sister a very sharp look as she told her, "_Rai, rai loreih, Andromeda, petrek lost amenoreihaht ai--"_ But she saw that Edward had come back with the instruments, not looking as though he had noticed anything unusual. She switched seamlessly back to accented English, "Oh, you've brought my violin, Edward!" she said, holding out a long-fingered hand, into which Ed passed the worn leather violin case. "_Vendaht,_ thank you."

Backing a few steps away from the now brightly burning fire, Capella opened the case and took out a sleek black violin and bow. Holding it against her chin, she played two long notes that were strong against the desert's silence, and then began to play faster, striking the instrument's strings with her eyes gently closed, drawing the upbeat song from memory. Andromeda, who was now stirring whatever was in the bowl vigorously, started drumming the fingers of her free hand on the side of the bowl in time to the music, with a complicated and skillful rhythm.

Ed was waiting for a convenient moment to tell Al what he had found inside the compartment, but he could see that now was not the time. That, and the song Capella was playing was extremely catchy. Alphonse had gone to stand next to Capella to listen, and was moving in time to the song so that his clanking armour blended in with the violin. Ed glanced down at his feet and realized his toe was tapping. _Involuntary toe-tapping?! _In order to distract himself from his brother and his disobedient foot, he looked over at Andromeda again, who kept looking longingly at the tall bongo drums next to her as she worked.

"What're you making?" He asked her.

"Huh?" She said, looking up at him. "Oh, this is _dmeihken_," she explained, tilting the bowl so that Edward could see. It looked like pale brown, lumpy dough filled with chunks of meat and some other things that were probably dried berries, although they could easily have been something far more sinister. "It's a traditional Lahkhnaian dish. Really nutritious."

"I bet," Ed said, and his doubts about the food must have shown in his face, because Andromeda added, "It actually tastes good, too. That's why we only eat it on special occasions... Most desert meals are pretty nasty by comparison."

Edward was somehow not reassured. She took no notice, because she then stood up and drove two metal stakes, each about a meter high, into the sand on either side of the fire. Then she took from the wooden crate a large, rectangular baking sheet, onto which she spread a few droplets of cooking oil before setting it precariously atop the stakes. Before long, little circles of dough were sizzling on the makeshift stove, and he had to admit that the smell wafting off them was quite enticing. Now that she was finished doing the cooking, Andromeda was finally able to return to the tall bongo drums, and she dragged them over to where Capella was still playing and Alphonse was still half-dancing, in order to join in the song. Ed was left alone, standing by the blazing fire.

He half wanted to join them, his brother and the two sisters- but his mind kept returning to the image of all those weapons, stuffed conveniently out of sight underneath the caravan... He was feeling stupid now, for blindly trusting these strangers, and apprehensive about whether they were really intending to hurt him and Al. Not scared- if he could walk away from Scar, from Greed, from Envy and Gluttony, he could definitely handle two teenaged girls, one of whom looked younger than him. But still... Ed remembered the way they had switched to speaking their own language to talk in front of him, the word Andromeda wasn't supposed to say and the one Capella couldn't pronounce, the persistent aura they projected that they knew something more than they were letting on...

"Big brother!" came a voice, and Ed was jolted out from his silent thoughts as Alphonse called to him. "Come over here and listen!"

He forced a grin onto his face and walked over to the three others, the only human beings for miles around-- the source of the only sound aside from the wind-- to the music, which Edward knew he would just have to face.

* * *

_Thanks a kazillion for reading! Now REVIEW, please. Please. I humbly request that you provide helpful feedback, whether you liked this chapter or not...  
Does the story seem to be meandering around too slowly to you? I have a nasty feeling that it's incredibly slow-paced and boring. Hopefully it isn't. _

_Yours truly in authorliness and stuff,_

_ Elaine/smart one :)  
_


	5. The Song of the Sky

**Review reply- _Melissa: _**_Yeah, the "shocking truth" is coming up next! Thanks, I've been working hard to develop them. -phew- I'm glad, I keep thinking that I'm the only one who doesn't mind__ when it's not one epic battle after another... Thanks for reviewing! :)_

_**E:** Alright, guys, here's chapter five! I'm really sorry this took so long to finish- major writer's block on my part. But now it's done, with 2,735 words of pure story, not including these notes. Enjoy!  
_

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They were all sitting now, eating the _dmeihken _fried over the fire. Ed still hadn't mentioned anything about the weapons... He had been a lot hungrier than he'd realized, and eating provided ample distraction from his suspicions. An even bigger distraction, however, soon arose in the form of a sudden, high-pitched scream.

Ed looked up immediately and got hurriedly to his feet. "What's going-" he glanced to Andromeda, who was looking around for the source of the noise just as he was, and then to Capella, who was standing with Alphonse, both of them with their backs turned. Ed and Andromeda dashed over to the source of the noise.

It turned out, however, to be Alphonse that had screamed.

There was a thick black snake- some sort of cobra- rearing in front of him, hissing and staring up at him with beady black eyes. Al was backing slowly away, having evidently forgotten that the snake's bared fangs could not hurt him. Capella stepped impatiently in front of him. "Calm down, Alphonse. It is only a snake," She calmly picked up her violin bow from the ground, pointing it at the snake. The Elric brothers watched, bewildered, as she waved the bow back and forth, slowly and rhythmically- and the snake followed its motion, swaying from side to side, never taking its eyes off the instrument. "That's right," She said softly, directing her voice to the transfixed creature, "just follow..."

_Blam._

Ed and Al jumped, and Capella nearly dropped the bow as she shot a disapproving look at her sister, who casually blew the smoke from the revolver she was holding. The snake had fallen to the ground, its head now reduced to a small puddle of blood, guts and scales, with the bullet lying some distance away in the sand. Alphonse cringed as the tail twitched before falling limp again.

"Andromeda, you didn't have to kill it!" Capella said, exasperated. "You're so excessive..."

"Well, I _hate_ snakes," she replied, a self-justifying note in her voice. "And you didn't have to go all 'look at me, I'm a creepy snake charmer'. "

Al was still looking at the snake, as though expecting it to suddenly reanimate, but Ed was staring at the gun in Andromeda's hand.

"You..." he looked suspicious.

"What?" she answered, eyebrows raised.

"You put a bullet through that thing's head- while it was _swaying-_ from that far away?"

"That's what you saw, isn't it?"

"Well..."

Andromeda sighed, rolling her eyes. "This is about all those weapons, isn't it?"

Alphonse looked over suddenly. "All what weapons?" Ed ignored him.

"Yeah," he said, looking her in the eye. "Why is it that you need about fifty different weapons-"

"What are you talking about, big brother?!"

"-to kill _snakes_?" Ed continued, still ignoring Al. "There's something you're not telling us."

She looked nervous now. Capella came up beside her, still holding the violin bow, which was slightly spattered with snake blood. "That's true," Capella said, in her calm and reasoning voice. "But it's nowhere near as sinister as you seem to think. Come," she led the three others to the wagon's hatch again, and opened it.

"While it is true that we have many enemies in the desert," she continued, "that is not the reason for our carrying around so many arms." Ed and Al stared into the compartment. Al gasped, his empty eyes taking in the swords, knives, guns, tridents, explosives, spears... But his brother just looked back at Capella.

"Okay, so what _is _the reason?" he was getting impatient.

"She's getting to that," Andromeda said, annoyed.

"Yes," Capella went on. "As I was saying, Los Peinahklaht consists of more people than just my sister and I."

"Yeah, there's, like... nine of us?"

"Eight. You're still counting..." she fell silent, and the sisters exchanged darkly significant glances that further confused Ed and Al. "...Yes, eight. Each member is situated at a different camp around the desert and the borders right now, and we all travel in between them fairly regularly. Each of us also-" She glanced down at her younger sister again, this time with a small smirk on her face. "-each of us over the age of _fifteen_ also has what is called a_ Thekkehn Raiikah, _or weapons specialty. It's different for each person."

Capella reached into the compartment and pulled out the pair of hand-tridents. "These," she said, holding them up, "are Vega's."

"She's the one in charge," Andromeda supplied. "and she's pretty..." her eyes lingered over the tridents. "...scary. Only when she's mad, though."

Capella gestured towards the many guns inside the compartment. "Most of these," she explained, "belong to Aquila, who specializes in guns."

"Okay," Ed nodded warily. "So you keep everyone's weapons in here all the time?"

"Yeah." Andromeda climbed up onto the edge of the wagon again. "They used to move the weapons from place to place, but apparently people would forget to bring their own stuff, so Vega might get stuck using Cassiopeia's explosives instead of the tridents, which could cause a lot of damage."

"That makes sense." Al agreed, although inside it still made him a bit nervous. Ed, on the other hand, was quicker to let go of his suspicions, and hurried back over to the fire where he had left his unfinished food. _Ed's appetite always has had a lot of control over him... _he thought, deciding that it was probably okay anyway, and they all gathered around the fire again.

"So," Ed said, between large bites of food, "there are six other people in your, uh... company?"

"We're more of an 'order', or, like, a 'league' or something." Andromeda corrected from over by the covered wagon, where she was digging around in the compartment.

Capella rolled her eyes. "Yes. Currently, Vega is the leader of our Order. She uses hand-tridents, as we showed you, and is also an alchemist. It was her who taught me, actually."

"You're an alchemist too?" Alphonse said, surprised.

She smiled ruefully. "I am, but not a very good one." She leaned down and drew a transmutation circle in the sand with her finger, very slowly and deliberately, and then placed her hands delicately on top of it. There was a flash of light, and a plain glass birdbath rose from the desert floor, slightly etched with transmutation marks. It was slightly rougher and nowhere near as detailed as something either of the Elric brothers could have made, but it did prove that Capella was an alchemist.

"Hmm," Ed said, inspecting the birdbath. "Not bad, not bad!"

She looked back at her creation. "But of course, a state alchemist could do better, could you not?"

He grinned, clapped his hands together and slammed them onto the sand. Another flash of light, and an enormous, gaudily decorated glass fountain rose from the sand, towering over them and pouring sand from several places. It was heavily decorated with entwining snakes, in typical Edward-style. Ed couldn't help but look smug as Capella stared up at the fountain impressedly, and Andromeda turned to look, dropping her armful of weapons and musical instruments. "Whoa," she said, and then resumed her search inside the compartment.

The glass fountains cast translucent shadows as they talked, Andromeda finally returning to the fireside with an armful of more drums. "Cassiopeia is second in charge," Capella continued calmly. "She was born into a Lahkhnaian family in one of our desert camps, and back then they lived a very traditional life, apparently. Her knowledge of explosives, then, came mostly from Xingese travellers. She's at _Myahno Idenah _right now, I believe, so you may see her when we arrive, unless she chooses to return home to the southeastern farms to see her family."

"Xingese travellers?" Al repeated, thinking of Ling and Ranfan.

"Oh, yes," she replied. "Los Peinahklaht assist people from the Eastern lands to cross the desert as well, and we also serve as a trading company, a link between the borders separated by _Nesethai-_ er... nature, by all this sand. We get many customers from Xing, especially recently."

"Hey," Ed said suddenly, "You weren't the ones who helped a Xingese girl- what was her name? 'May' or something like that- to come to Amestris?"

Capella and Andromeda glanced at each other, thinking. "Uhh..." Andromeda tightened the knot on the back of her bandanna. "What was her last name?"

"Chang." Al supplied hopefully.

"Nah, I don't think so. She must've gone with another order."

_Well, there goes another lead. _Ed thought, groaning inwardly.

Andromeda kept talking. "The only Xingese girl we really know personally is Lyra- the one who you guys are going to meet. Apart from Rendanshu she also uses spears and kunai- you know, those little knives?" She sat for a minute, looked at the Elric brothers, then apparently lost interest and began playing the drums. She was good, they noticed... Her hands blurred with the speed of their motions, rolling her fingers across the skins, slapping them with her palms, pounding with the heels of her hands. For awhile they sat and listened.

"So..." Al said eventually, and she slowed the rhythm down to a basic, repetitive tapping so she could hear. "Is your weapons' specialty alchemy too, Capella?"

Capella looked anxious when she heard him, although Al couldn't imagine why. She bit her lip uneasily before answering. "Y-... Yes, I suppose..." Then she changed the subject. "Andromeda's almost fifteen, which means soon she'll have to choose hers. Right, An?"

Her sister stopped drumming and slid down the side of the tall drum back to the sandy ground with a sigh. "Yep. And I still don't have a clue what it's gonna be."

--

About an hour later the desert sky was ablaze with colour, and the grey, glowing splotch on the horizon that was Amestris- barely visible now over the vast expanse of sand that set it apart- was dimmed and silhouetted by the sinking sun behind it

"The city does not compare."

All heads turned to Capella, who was watching the sky dreamily. They all had been sitting quietly, staring in awe at the sunset.

"That's true," Ed agreed. "There isn't even this much sky to be seen in Central, with all the buildings..."

"And the smog," said Al quietly.

"In the desert there is nothing to obscure the horizon, and the wide sky serves as shelter enough, stretching on and on before us just beyond our grasp." Capella went on, her hazel-green eyes focusing on the fading red sun rather than the city.

Her sister smiled, and added, "The entire world rests beneath the same sky, but here it lies closer to us, and closer we stand to it. Solitude is not isolation, nor is emptiness the same as vacancy. If nothing else, the stars are over us always."

There was silence for a moment, broken by Ed.

"You didn't just make that up, did you?" His question was met by laughter.

"We can't fool you, can we?" Capella said. "You're right. It's an old Lahknaian teaching."

"But it's true," Andromeda said, turning to look up at the stars appearing above them. "_The Song of the Sky_, as translated by Cassiopeia."

Alphonse looked at the stars too. "I think it's true too..." He said under his breath. _Emptiness is not the same as vacancy. _Andromeda's words- though not originally her own- kept repeating in his head. Ed, however, heard Capella's words- _stretching on and on before us just beyond our grasp._ They echoed in his mind as they had for the past four years, stronger now as though glad to be defined.

Soon the sky was completely dark and the only light was from the fire and the stars. "There are just... so many stars," Edward said to no one in particular as he rolled up his jacket and leaned back on it to use as a pillow. Capella brought them proper bedrolls a few moments later, and was surprised to see that Andromeda was still awake. She was talking quietly to Alphonse, pointing up at the constellations.

"See that?" she said, dots of light reflecting in her wide blue eyes. "That's the Andromeda Galaxy."

"You have your own galaxy?" Al laughed. "Impressive,"

She laughed too. "_Officially_ they named _me_ after _it,_ but I'd rather think of it the other way around. Some days, when it feels like I've got nothing at all compared to city kids, I just think... 'Well, I bet none of _them_ have their own galaxy." Then she stared at the sand. "...Sorry, I guess that's kind of a stupid thing to say..."

Just then, Alphonse really wished he could smile at her. "No, it isn't," he said. "Besides, I'm not from the city either, but you've got all kinds of stuff we didn't have in Resembool."

"Resembool? Is that where you're from?"

"Yeah, my brother and I were born there."

"I've been there!" she said excitedly. "We stopped there on the way to Central once. That was the furthest west we've ever taken a caravan."

"Really?" Al replied. "So what did you think of it there?"

"Oh, it was nice," she said, grinning. "Lots of animals, not much traffic. Central was great, but there were way too many cars. And all the smog made it so hard to breathe!"

The two of them talked for a long time, uninterrupted by either of their siblings. Capella was sitting by the fire, tending it carefully, and Edward was still lying down, staring up at the stars. They were familiar to him- he used to sit with Al and Winry sometimes and watch for shooting stars. He picked out the few constellations that he knew... The Big Dipper, the Little Dipper, Orion... It wasn't much. Astronomy had never been his thing. What good were the stars when they were so far away? The only one that really mattered to him was the Sun, because it was close enough to bring life to the planet. Ed preferred things that weren't so distant, so enigmatic that you couldn't figure them out if you tried. Alchemy was down-to-earth, proven science. The elements could be combined and altered according to certain rules, and it was a skill that could be developed. _But somebody had to test those rules in order to define them,_ he thought suddenly. These had been his thoughts long ago, when he himself had sought to test the boundaries of alchemy. Someone else had made the same mistakes before, and had warned him against it... but he had needed to be sure, believing that he was different, that he alone had the guts and the skill to make it work.

He thought back to sitting on the Rockbells' back porch with Winry and Alphonse. He had never spotted any shooting stars himself. It was always Winry who saw them first, Alphonse who saw where she was pointing right away, and then finally him, Edward, who always caught a glimpse of the distant meteorite just as it faded away.

And Edward thought again of The Song of the Sky as he relived his mistakes as he did whenever there was nothing to distract him.

_...Stretching on and on before us, just beyond our grasp._

_

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**E:** There! I'll try to get the next chapter out sooner. Was that one interesting enough? Did you guys notice the subtle AlxOC hintage? I'm testing that whole thing out to see if it works or not. Please review and tell me what you think. It's the only way I'll ever learn! Ha ha... Thanks for reading,  
-Elaine/smart one


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